This is the second Volume of this Encyclopedia devoted to Advaita Vedanta. It takes up the history of that movement from where Volume Three of this Encyclopedia left off and covers the literature from Vacaspati Misra in the tenth century to Citsukha scholar from around the world both living and dead.In the Introduction the Editor reviews a contentious issue among contemporary Advaita scholars concerning the accuracy of the interpretations of Samkara's intentions found in the writings of the various schools that developed subsequent to Samkara`s lifetime.

Advaita Vedānta is the most important philosophical system in India. It involves a discipline of spiritual experience as well as a technical philosophy, and since the time of Samkara in the ninth century some of the greatest intellects in India have contributed to its development. In his reconstruction of Advaita Vedānta, Eliot Deutsch has lifted the system out of its historical/cultural context and has concentrated attention on those ideas which have enduring philosophical value. He has sought to formulate systematically one's understanding of what is of universal philosophical interest in Vedantic thought. Professor Deutsch's work covers the basic metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical ideas of Vedānta. Students and scholars of Western as well as of Indian philosophy will be interested in the lucid, organized manner in which the material is presented and in the fresh interpretations given. The book is written in a critical rather than simply "pious" spirit and should thus also be of interest to anyone interested in deepening his or her appreciation and understanding of the richness of Indian thought.

The present volumeis an annotated biblography of the vedik- Laksana, the esitence of which could be determined on the basic of printed editions, catalogues of manuscripts, and citations in other texts. the incentive for compiling this bibliography grew out of an awareness that hardly any relaible information exists concerning manuscripts of veda-laksana texts, although they are of great use critical studies of vedic texts. The goal of this work is to provide a comprehensive handbook of source materials on Veda-Laksna by identifying and distinguishing the texts in various manuscripts and printed editions according to their contents and actual title.

The novelty of this book consists of the fact that it introduces the reader to the basic tenets of Advaita Vedanta in three independent but complementary ways: scripturally, rationally and experientially. All the three elements are usually found intertwined in accounts of Advaita Vedanta. They are presented distinctly here in the hope that each perspective will enrich one`s understanding of Advaita Vedanta as a whole and also allow the reader to form his or her own opinion about the relative merits of each approach.